


(Not) Allergic To Roses

by petroltogo



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexual Tony, Asexuality, Bucky Is In Love, Bucky's version of dirty talk, Crushes, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Misunderstanding, Player Bucky, Teasing, Tony is affectionate, Valentine's Day, physical affection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 03:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9639257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petroltogo/pseuds/petroltogo
Summary: The tale of Player!Bucky and Asexual!Tony trying to make it work. Today’s edition: Valentine’s Day. Includes slight misunderstandings, declarations of affection, fluff, and Bucky’s potty mouth.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For a tumblr prompt that asked for an ace!Tony story. It turned into a little Valentine's fic because there are so many adorable Valentine's cards going around right now and I couldn't resist. Enjoy!

‘You know I’m ace, right?’ isn’t the reaction Bucky’s been hoping for, but it’s also not a door slammed shut in his face, so he counts it as a win.

Tony squints suspiciously at the roses in Bucky’s arms—yellow and red ones because those are his favourite colours, and Bucky is nothing if not a huge sap, apparently—and Bucky has no doubt the flowers will end up cut open on a lab table, to be thoroughly tested for any unsavourily additions, before the day is over.

He probably shouldn’t smile fondly at the cruel fate lying in these poor flowers’ future. He definitely shouldn’t.

Damn it. Nat’s right, he’s got it _bad_.

“Unless ace stands for ‘allergic to roses’ I fail to see your point.” Bucky smiles and hopefully holds the bouquet out for Tony to take. Because continuing to cling to them like a toddler to a plushy might look a little silly.

Tony refuses to take them though, crosses his arms in front of his chest instead and scowls up at Bucky. Which is _not_ adorable, that would just be ridiculous.

“It’s Valentine’s Day,” Tony hisses, voice suspiciously high and fingers restlessly fiddling with the soft fabric of his sweater. “And you want to give me roses?” It sounds more like an accusation than a question. He’s visibly agitated, and Bucky wants to reach out and smooth out the furrowed lines on his forehead, except he isn’t so sure his touch would be welcomed right now.

“Yeah.” There’s no point in denying the obvious. And okay, maybe he’s a bit nervous about asking Tony out. A tiny little bit.

“I’m not sleeping with you!” Tony blurts before Bucky has the chance to say anything else—which, in all the scenarios he’s played through in his head multiple times, was admittedly not a reaction he’d anticipated—and promptly slams the door shut.

Bucky blinks in confusion, not entirely sure what just happened. 

But before he has time to come up with a reasonable reaction—like picking the cheap lock or fleeing for his life from Natasha’s inevitable wrath when she finds out he has messed up already—the door slowly opens again, revealing a sheepish Tony who’s chewing nervously on his bottom lip.

“You’re not actually here to proposition to me, are you?” he asks, well, mumbles, uncomfortably.

It feels a bit like a slap in the face, to think that after three months of friendship and steadfast support of Tony’s sexuality he’s still immediately jumping to the conclusion that what Bucky wants is sex. To be fair, that’s what Bucky _did_ want, back when he approached the out-of-place looking genius at Clint’s party. But that had been a different situation altogether, it wasn’t like he’d known Tony back then, and—unlike certain fuckheads he could think of—he knew how to take a ‘no’.

Bucky doesn’t let those thoughts show on his face though. For one they would make Tony, who has a bad track-record of making other people comfortable at his own expense, feel horrible, and Bucky is self-aware enough to know that his assumption isn’t unjustified. Neither Tony’s exes nor Bucky’s reputation are of any help in that regard. For another the mere fact that Tony isn’t running, or at least has come back to get a clear answer on what his intentions are, is proof of how far they’ve come.

Tony might not trust him blindly the way he trusts Rhodes, but he does trust him, wants to believe in the best in Bucky, and that makes the stupidly warm, fuzzy feelings in his chest soar. It also makes him want to do a Charlie’s angel roll out of the nearest window because he is not equipped to deal with all this emotional bullshit, just ask Steve.

Bucky ruthlessly squashes that urge and meets Tony’s eyes instead. “I’m not asking you to sleep with me, if that’s what you mean,” he says and he means it.

“Then what do you want?” Tony asks helplessly, like he can’t fathom what else there is, what he could possibly offer anyone. And that, that just isn’t right. That uncertainty doesn’t suit Tony, who’s usually as unapologetically, in-your-face ace as possible, at all.

“I want you to go on a date with me,” Bucky replies, proud of how steady his voice sounds. The flowers he’s still holding also do a great job of hiding the trembling in his hands. “I want to text you silly emoji combinations all the time to show you I’m thinking of you. I want you to call me at the crack of dawn and tell me about whatever brilliant idea you’ve just come up with. I want to see you wear my hoodies every day, and tell you how amazing you look, and trace the lines of your blush, and kiss you on the forehead, and watch you argue with Steve about superheroes, and get tackled to the ground when I get back from the grocery store, and call you pet names that make my friends roll their eyes at our backs.”

And okay, Bucky did _not_ mean to say that latter part out loud. It’s his turn to avert his eyes now, not that that’s what he’s doing, absolutely not. It’s just, the roses are really very pretty to look at and he’s just enjoying the view ~~and fighting the urge to bury his flushed face in them~~ , alright?

Only when Tony clears his throat does he dare to look up again. The blank face greeting him isn’t what you’d call encouraging though and Bucky can feel his stomach dropping what feels like straight through the floor and down another two levels.

“So, just one date then?” Tony asks airily and it takes Bucky a long moment to process the amusement hidden in those dry words and slight twitch of Tony’s lips.

Turns out it’s really hard to calling your crush out on purposefully being a little shit when he has just metaphorically freed you from the crushing weight of a panicked circle of ‘What if I’ve just ruined everything, I never should’ve-’ trails of thought. Bucky feels light-headed with relief and happiness, and really, it’s all he can do to retort with a cheeky “Maybe two” and a ridiculously wide, sappy smile.

“Two? Someone’s very sure of himself,” Tony teases.

It’s the irresistible combination of the challenging smirk and the contradicting softness in his eyes though that dissolves the last of Bucky’s nerves, allows him to regain his footing again. Because this is familiar territory, this he can do in his sleep.

“Oh, believe me, I’m gonna pull out all the stops, you won’t stand a chance,” Bucky grins back, his usual confidence quickly returning now that he knows Tony is willing to give him a chance.

“You’re setting the bar real high when you talk like that, you know that, right?” Tony counters, but Bucky just shrugs, appearing not at all bothered.

“Should the date be a bust—which it _won’t_ be—I still got a back-up plan for after.” He winks obnoxiously.

“Oh?” Tony is trying and failing to hide his curiosity, and Bucky is unspeakably glad that the intrigue seems to outweigh the wariness.

“Yep,” Bucky barrels on, voice deepening on its own accord, “Because after our amazing, movie-scene-worthy date, I’ll shamelessly seduce you into coming over to my place, and you know what we’re gonna do there?” He leans in until he is close enough to whisper the answer right into Tony’s ear. “We’re gonna watch the fourth season of Leverage and eat stracciatella ice _straight out of the box_.”

“And Nat says your dirty talk’s terrible,” Tony laughs delightedly when he pulls back. Then he pauses. “Wait. Straccia- How did you know my favourite-”

“Remember our first meeting?” Because Bucky certainly does.

Apparently so does Tony, if the way he lights up is any indication. “You remember that?” He sounds awed, which is a silly question, it’s not like Bucky could ever forget. But he only gets half-way through a “’Course I do, doll,” before he has an arm full of excited genius, bright smile and teary-eyes included, peppering feather-light kisses all over Bucky’s face.

“Be my valentine?” he asks breathlessly and Bucky can’t help but laugh, because it’s such a _Tony_ thing to go and steal his line.

“Well, since you asked so nicely,” he jokes back, which leads to Tony rolling his eyes with a huff, which leads to Bucky trying to ruffle his hair, which leads to Tony losing his hold on Bucky, which leads to the both of them toppling over like the uncoordinated, lovesick fools they are.

In the end the flowers look a little worse for wear, but Bucky really, really doesn’t mind. And neither does Tony, if the way he keeps them on his bedside table for weeks (and rescues them from the garbage can Rhodey sneakily throws them into twice) is any indication.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it, even though it was just a short glimpse into this unfinished 'verse. Hey, at least it was an adorable one, right? Right?
> 
> You're welcome to check out my marvel/Tony blog on tumblr [tonystarktogo](http://tonystarktogo.tumblr.com/). Have a great day/night!


End file.
